There will be some familiar faces at the 28th heads of government meeting, including Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon Fred Mitchell. Recommended for you Related Items:#magneticmedianews Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsApp “The meeting is expected to focus on the effects on the economic climate on member states of the Caribbean Community and framework by which the Community can achieve growth and development amidst the current environment. Additionally, the issue of crime and security is top among the three broad area that are up for discussion.” Aside from the plenary sessions, during the two-day conference, DP Astwood is expected to hold bilateral talks with CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador, Irvine LaRocque and region leaders including one with Minister Mitchell. The intercessional meetings wrap up today. #MagneticMediaNews ALERT # 2 ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER, 2019 AT 9 PM EDT Electricity Cost of Service Study among the big agenda items at September 11 Cabinet meeting Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsAppProvidenciales, TCI, February 17, 2017 – Regional security is a major topic at the 28th Intercessional meeting of CARICOM being held in Georgetown, Guyana at the Marriott Hotel and the Turks and Caicos is represented with a delegation led by Border Control minister and Deputy Premier, Hon Sean Astwood. Crime, gun violence and border control are all major matters shared as concerns and challenges among regional countries. Minister Astwood, who left a couple of days ago for the meeting is hailing it as a great networking opportunity and in a media release today shared the value of the sessions to CARICOM states and their developments – both as a community and individually. The Luxury of Grace Bay in Down Town Provoread more

UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee (centre R-in blue jacket), being escorted during a visit to the Rakhine ethnic Sein Pan Myaing village, near the town of Maungdaw in strife-torn Rakhine State near the Bangladesh border on 20 January. AFP file photoMyanmar’s deputy defence chief on Monday urged the world to give his government “time and space” to solve a crisis involving the Rohingya Muslim minority amid concerns jihadists could exploit the situation.Rear Admiral Myint Nwe told a security forum in Singapore his government is “fully aware of the growing concern about the widespread reports on (the) situation in Rakhine state” where the Rohingya live, and was committed to address the issue and punish wrongdoers.Since October Myanmar’s army has carried out “clearance operations” in the north of the western state to root out insurgents accused of deadly raids on police border posts.At least 66,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, alleging rape, murder and torture at the hands of security forces.Myanmar has long faced international criticism over its treatment of the Rohingya. Most people in the majority Buddhist community consider them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.“The government does not condone rights abuses against innocent civilians. Legal action will be taken in response to any substantiated claim,” Myint Nwe said.The admiral was responding to a keynote address by Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at th Fullerton Forum organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.Hishammuddin warned that the situation in Rakhine-if not addressed properly-could be exploited by the Islamic State group as it seeks a base in Southeast Asia.“This horrific possibility has the potential to cause death and destruction well beyond the borders of ASEAN,” he added, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Answering a delegate’s question, Hishammuddin said the Rohingya issue “is going to test ASEAN solidarity… It needs to be resolved, we cannot sweep it under the carpet, it affects a lot of Muslims and it’s very emotional”.Myint Nwe said both Yangon and the international community should focus on finding a “lasting solution” to the problem.“Allowing time and space is essential for the government’s efforts to bear fruit in finding a sustainable solution of this complex issue.”Hishammuddin said ASEAN-the regional bloc to which both Malaysia and Myanmar belong-should play a key role in working out a solution with Myanmar’s leaders.read more

Jatiya Oikya Front. File PhotoSeventy-four 74 Jatiya Oikya Front candidates have filed election petitions with the High Court seeking its directives to hold a fresh election after cancelling the results of the 30 December polls, citing vote-rigging, vote robbery, casting fake votes and driving agents out of polling stations.They filed the petitions in three days from Tuesday, reports UNB.On Saturday, the candidates decided to file district-wise election petitions with the High Court against irregularities in the election.Eight Supreme Court lawyers were assigned on Sunday to conduct the cases.One of the lawyers, Ruhul Quddus Kazal said he filed petitions on behalf of 12 candidates.It was mentioned in the petitions that even dead persons cast their votes in the general election, he said. “Fake votes were cast and in some centres, 97-98 per cent votes were cast.”Bringing allegations of other anomalies, the petitions said it was not an election at all and demanded cancelling the election results.Kazal said the petitions will be placed before the HC bench concerned next week for hearing.read more

Kolkata: In a sensational incident, a 17-year-old youth streamed his suicide live on a social networking app while doing a video chat with his girl friend.The victim identified as Suraj Roy (17), was a student of class XII. He hanged himself from the ceiling of his house and showed the way he committed suicide to his girl friend. The victim was a student of Padmapukur High School in Baruipur.The incident took place in the Salepur village area under Baruipur police station. The incident triggered tension in the area. Police on Thursday morning recovered the body from the house and sent the body for the post-mortem. Also Read – Speeding Jaguar crashes into Merc, 2 B’deshi bystanders killedThe incident occurred on Wednesday night when the victim engaged in a heated altercation with his girl friend through a video call on a social networking app. The family members of the victim, however, lodged a complaint against his girl friend at the local police station. They brought the charges of abatement to suicide against the girl with whom the victim had a relationship for the past few months.The victim’s mother told the police that he called up his girlfriend after having his dinner at around 11 pm on Wednesday. During the phone call, he was found to be shouting. It appeared that they were involved in a verbal duel. Also Read – Naihati: 10 councillors return to TMC from BJPFollowing the incident, the victim might have made a video call to his girl friend and streamed his suicide live. The girl told the matter to her elder sister, who in turn reported the this to the friends of the victim.His friends rushed to his house and informed his mother. As he did not open the door despite repeated knocks, locals broke open the door only to find him hanging. After being informed, police reached the spot and recovered the body. The body was sent for an autopsy. No suicide note was found inside the room. Police have started a detailed probe into the incident. According to a preliminary investigation, police suspect that he had committed suicide due to depression. The exact cause is yet to be confirmed. The mobile phone of the victim is being examined by the police officers.It may be mentioned that in a similar incident, a class XII girl from Sonarpur area in the same district, went live on a social networking site in the similar fashion and committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling fan in June this year.A 40-year-old man also committed suicide in the similar manner in Siliguri earlier this month.read more

Toymakers should avoid gender- labelling toys, and create items for both boys and girls in a wide range of colours, say scientists who found that children’s perception of what is appropriate for a gender can be easily manipulated. The study is also the first to show that a boy’s liking of blue and a girl’s preference for pink is not just a Western construct, but is also a phenomenon in urban Asian societies.The researchers from University of Hong Kong recruited 129 Chinese children aged between five and seven from two kindergartens in Hong Kong. Also Read – Add new books to your shelfFirst they assessed the children’s preference for pink versus blue by showing them cards and toys in these colours.Then the children were presented with yellow and green cards and toys.They were randomly divided into so-called label and no-label groups.Children in the no-label group were presented with coloured cards and toys which had no reference to a specific gender and these children consequently expressed no preference for a specific colour.However, preschoolers in the label group were told that yellow was a girl’s colour and green a boys’ colour, and corresponding gender differences emerged in the choices they made. Also Read – Over 2 hours screen time daily will make your kids impulsive Apart from randomly assigning children to these two groups, the children’s pre-existing preferences for yellow and green were statistically controlled, so the resulting difference between the groups speaks strongly to a causal effect of the gender labels.According to the researchers, the gender differences between preferred colours in children is noteworthy because it is so much more prominent than most other psychological differences between the sexes. “Our findings support the notion that gender-typed liking for pink versus blue is a particularly salient gender difference,” said Sui Ping Yeung from University of Hong Kong.”Moreover, our findings reveal that gender differences could be created merely by applying gender labels,” Yeung said.The findings, published in the journal Sex Role support previous research that highlighted the strong influence that gender labels such as “for boys” or “for girls” might have. Further, the observations are in line with gender schema theory that says that once children have learnt a specific gender identity, their behaviour will be guided by the standards set as being appropriate for their specific sex.These will guide them later in life on how they interact and adapt to their surroundings, for instance, when taking on chores around the house, such as cooking, cleaning or repairing things.read more